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Unit 17Non-Proliferation and Disarmament LawChapter 6: Summary and Further Resources
All chapters
  1. 0. A Message from the Authors
  2. 1. Introduction
  3. 2. International Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Law
  4. 3. National Implementation of Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Law
  5. 4. National Enforcement of Proliferation and Disarmament Law
  6. 5. European Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Law
  7. 6. Summary and Further Resources
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Chapter 6

Summary and Further Resources

International non-proliferation and disarmament law forms part of international law.

Stacks of papers and flyers as well as newspapers and magazines are presented on a table.
UN Photo / Loey Felipe, All rights reserved.

Summary

  • International non-proliferation and disarmament law forms part of international law.
  • It is also one of international law’s many sub-regimes.
  • The founding and functioning principles of non-proliferation and disarmament law are therefore aligned with those of international law.
  • The sources (e.g. treaty law, customary law), participants (e.g. states, international organisations), application and enforcement (e.g. legal disputes regarding non-compliance) of international law apply in the same way to international non-proliferation and disarmament law.
  • International non-proliferation and disarmament law is related to other areas/sub-regimes of international law.
  • Treaty law applies to all non-proliferation and disarmament treaties.
  • The law on the use of force can intersect with international non-proliferation and disarmament law.
  • Use of CBRN weapons can amount to a violation of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes under international criminal law.
  • International human rights law will always apply, for example with regard to the fair trial rights of an alleged perpetrator of an offence related to CBRN weapons.
  • National implementation of international non-proliferation and disarmament law is needed in order to carry out international obligations at the national level.
  • Regardless of a state’s relationship with international law (i.e. whether it is more monist or dualist), national legislation is often required in different areas of national law to be able to give practical effect to a state’s international legal commitments on non-proliferation and disarmament.
  • National enforcement of both international and national non-proliferation and disarmament law involves structures and procedures such as the establishment of national authorities, national inspections, national investigations by police and court cases.
  • The EU has its own legal order within international law, and as such has developed relevant treaties, regulations and decisions that together form EU law on non-proliferation and disarmament.

Further Resources

General Resources

  • UNODA / Areas of Work / Weapons of Mass Destruction
  • UNODA Disarmament Treaties Database
  • Biological Weapons Convention, Report on National Implementing Legislation, VERTIC’s National Implementation Measures Programme, November 2016.
  • VERTIC’s BWC Legislation Database
  • United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law, Arms Control and Disarmament
  • United Nations Treaty Handbook
  • The ABC of EU Law, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, 9th January 2018.

Good Reads

  • The Law of Arms Control. International Supervision and Enforcement.
  • Guido den Dekker, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 2001, 404p.
  • Arms Control. The New Guide to Negotiations and Agreements. Fully revised and updated second edition. Jozef Goldblat, Sage, 2002, 396p.
  • A Guide to International Disarmament Law.
  • Stuart Casey-Maslen, Tobias Vestner, Routledge, 2019, 252p.
  • The Chemical Weapons Convention: A commentary (Third edition). Edited by Walter Krutzsch, Eric Myjer, and Ralf Trapp, Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law (8th edition). James Crawford, Oxford University Press, 2018.

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.